Oakley cares for kids orphaned by plane crash

Oakley cares for kids orphaned by plane crash
Tyche Hendricks,Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writers

Tuesday, July 1, 2008
(06-30) 19:02 PDT Oakley - -- The east Contra Costa County town of Oakley was in mourning Monday for two couples deeply woven into the fabric of the community who died in a single-engine plane crash Saturday near Las Vegas, leaving seven children orphaned.

A U.S. flag flew at half-staff outside City Hall, and black ribbons festooned the "City of Oakley" signs there. The electronic sign board at the town's civic center read: "Our deepest sympathies to the families of Erik & Tanya Nunn and Craig & Michele Wilson."

Nowhere was the grieving greater - or the community response stronger - than in the well-kept subdivision where the two families lived less than a block apart, on Susie Street and Kali Court.

Cars clogged the driveways of both homes along with children's bikes and scooters, and a steady stream of friends and neighbors came and went. The parents and siblings of all four victims had settled in to care for the three Wilson children and the four Nunn kids.

Anne Marie Montes, who lives across from the Wilsons and around the corner from the Nunns, sat stunned on her front stoop. All the families in the neighborhood moved in together when their homes were built about five years ago, she said. The parents visit frequently, and the children play constantly.

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How to help
Donations can be made to:
-- The Nunn Children Trust and Wilson Children Trust at Bank of the West, 2195 Main St., Oakley, CA 94561 or call (925) 625-2211.
-- The Children of Craig Wilson Trust Fund, the BART Police Officers Association, P.O. Box 12688, Oakland, CA 94604 or call (510) 464-7182.
E-mail Tyche Hendricks at thendricks@sfchronicle.com.